Angelique Collins (Paperback Library)
Angelique Collins was a witch who terrorized the Collins family in the early 1800s. She fell in love and became madly obsessed with a man named Barnabas Collins. Barnabas however, spurned her affection in favor of his own paramour, Josette DuPres. Bitter with envy, Angelique turned her supernatural powers against Barnabas and placed a curse upon him – a curse that transformed Barnabas into a vampire. As Melissa Henry In 1910, Angelique assumed a new identity, that of Melissa Henry. She met with a young occult student named Chris Jennings and together they explored the dark arts. Chris wanted to establish a wolf-cult in the town of Collinsport, and Angelique was only too happy to assist him. As Melissa Henry, Angelique arrived at the Jennings home at Cranshaw House under the guise of their new housekeeper – assigned to replace a servant named Peg. Chris’ wife, Paula Jennings distrusted Melissa and soon learned of the woman’s dual identity as Angelique. One night in April, Angelique broke into Paula’s room in the middle of the night. She attempted to attack her, but the spirit of Josette Collins manifested itself inside the room and drove Angelique away. Despite all of her power, she was no match for Josette’s strength of spirit. Angelique terrorized Paula some more by summoning elaborate phantasms that chased her about the second floor landing at Cranshaw House. It was her intention to weaken Paula’s reserve and hopefully drive her mad. She later used her magic to adopt the characteristics of a werewolf. As werewolves, Chris Jennings and she attacked Paula once more outside the front steps of Cranshaw House. The vampire, Barnabas Collins, flew down in the form of a bat and distracted the wolves long enough for Paula to reach safety inside the house. The following evening, Chris and Angelique abducted Paula from the kitchen and brought her down into a secret vault below the cellar of the house. There, they erected an elaborate altar and planned on indoctrinating Paula into their wolf-cult. Barnabas Collins arrived and rescued Paula. He trapped Chris and Angelique inside the secret vault, and flooded the room with water channeled from the nearby sea. Although the body of Melissa Henry died that day, the soul of Angelique is immortal and can never truly die. Powers As a witch, Angelique had a wide variety of supernatural abilities at her disposal. She harnessed the ability to curse others, transforming them permanently into vampires. She also had the ability to summon the spirits of the dead to do her bidding. Angelique also had the ability to alter her appearance, even to the extent of assuming the shapes of animals. She once became a pseudo-werewolf in order to help Chris Jennings propagate his wolf-cult. Angelique’s most impressive power however is her immortal spirit. Although her body may age and even be destroyed, her spirit is everlasting and will always return to the physical plane at a time of her choosing. Notes * The Paperback Library version of Angelique was born and raised in the West Indies. In the original Dark Shadows television series, she was raised in France. Angelique’s West Indian origin is consistent with the style of magic that she typically employs, which often makes use of practices and rituals commonly attributed to Voodoo. Appearances The Foe of Barnabas Collins Category:Novels Characters